Under a magnifying glass
by ZerovS
Summary: Multi-arc sequel with all the highs and lows of high school life, more daunting mysteries that Houtarou keeps finding himself involved in, an eventual EruxHoutarou, and some OC's to push the story forward. This is how I picture their life will continue. Seriously, this fandom needs more love.
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was the middle of September. The oppressive summer heat was gone along with the end of the summer holidays, slowly giving way to the chill of the autumn winds.

For Houtarou, it was a time to be cherished. Not because of the colors, or the smell of crisp air. Rather, it simply meant nothing out of the ordinary would happen because it was only the third week of the new school year. A peaceful time before school festivals and trips, before any exams. Before any mystery would rear its head around the corner. A time when he could hold true to his motto.

Like now. It was school's last period, and his classmates were busy trying to understand algebra and copying every single formula down into their notebook, the silence only drowned out by the teacher's droning explanations or the occasional quiet chatter among close seats. Some were even sprawled out on their table, finally succumbing to the constant sleep attacks. Yes, peaceful and uneventful.

At least that was what he wanted to think.

He sighed once and eyed that little piece of paper in his hand he had found in his locker during lunch, slipped carefully under his white sports shoes, and the message written across it in neat handwriting.

Houtarou had seen – well, _observed_ as a bystander as it might be more accurately described – all sorts of harmless pranks pulled using the infernal lockers, from 'borrowed' shoes to an additional, uninvited lock. Houtarou had thankfully never been a victim of those; probably because his classmates deemed him too boring to pull a prank on. Which was a good thing, in Houtarou's honest opinion.

And then there was everyone's favorite – the fake love letter. Somehow, for reasons Houtarou couldn't fathom, it was apparently something satisfying to see a guy getting all flushed and jumpy, only to fall into utter embarrassment and deflation when he found out the letter was actually sent by his goofy friends.

But those tended to be long and elaborate, sometimes wrapped in a cute envelope adorned with a colorful sticker, complete with all the small details that made it ever more convincing.

This. This was different.

For one thing, something like this had happened to him before, twice. Not a random scribble about love and confessions, but a self-same piece of note claiming to foretell a certain future.

The whole ordeal had started mild and innocent enough – although future-telling prophecies were probably anything but innocent. Two weeks ago, when Houtarou first found the note in his locker after school with the same unidentifiable handwriting, it had read: _Bring your umbrella. It's going to rain in 20 minutes._

'Did anyone drop this?' was the only response it elicited from the slightly confused Houtarou, before he threw it away in the trashcan and began his 30 minute-walk home, barely noticing the obviously clear skies up above. He was drenched to the toe when he arrived home.

And then again a week ago, when it read: _You will be in charge of cleaning duty today. The original person in charge will be sick and will not be available._

The poor boy had assumed that his teacher had left him that note, though for whatever reason his teacher did that he wouldn't know. The strange use of the future tense was not lost on him either.

In the end, a certain classmate of his collapsed due to a fever, and his teacher had listed him to be responsible of after-school cleaning.

Today, seeing this note for a third time, he started to think all those occurrences had not been a coincidence after all. But what did this all mean?

He stared at the little scrap of paper. _Someone from class 2-C is going to confess to you after school._ And frowned.

'Uh… make sure you understand all of it. Okay, class dismissed.' The sound of his teacher pulled him out of his reverie, followed by a well-timed ring of the school bell that earned some sighs of reprieve from his classmates. Slowly, the room livened to after-school chatter about going-whereabouts.

Houtarou packed up his own stuff and left, interrupted only by a light pat on his shoulder.

'Yo, Houtarou,' Satoshi, bag slung casually over his shoulder, said as he circled to walk beside him. Houtarou covertly pocketed the note still held in his hand and turned toward his friend. By sheer luck, they were to be classmates again this year. This made it the fifth year the unlikely duo would have homeroom class together.

'Sorry!' Satoshi said as he held out his hand apologetically. 'I know we're supposed to meet up today, but I'm gonna have to take a rain check. I've got my hands pretty tied up by the student council.'

Satoshi was probably referring to the Classics Club's 'first official meeting of the year', as phrased by the insistent Eru Chitanda, even though it was still only the four of them. Maybe she liked to keep these things formal.

'Applications are quickly filing in for the set up of new clubs,' Satoshi explained further. 'We're the ones in charge of approving them.'

'Must be a pain,' Houtarou groaned for his friend's sake, but quietly thankful he was not the one to have to deal with this outpour of energy.

'It may seem like a hassle,' Satoshi admitted. 'But it can be pretty exciting at the same time. They're all so creative in naming their clubs. _"The Invincible Squadron!"_ –' he jabbed an aggressive finger at Houtarou. ' – has got to be my favorite so far. I hear the members are pretty skilled in karate.'

 _What happened to the good old fashioned 'Karate Club' then?_ Houtarou mused quietly as they rounded a corner and descended the stairs.

'Still, the numbers are pretty overwhelming. It's barely been a month, and we're getting as many as fifty applications. Supposedly, the success of last year's Kanya Fest has a lot to do with it. Some of the freshmen here chose this school just because they came to the festival last year.'

Houtarou's mind flashed back to a year ago, to Mayaka's overprinted volumes of Hyouka, to the loud, vibrant colors just about everywhere he looked, and to a particular incident that he had somehow got himself involved in, but resolved (less-than) peacefully in the end. The Juumonji Incident, or the mysterious thief of Kamiyama High as some called it, had created quite the buzz, and had been the talk of the school and even outsiders for a short amount of time.

'It makes me want to do something grand this year too, you know?' Satoshi said as he pumped his fist into the air. 'Can't let the newcomers win, after all.'

'As long as you don't drag me into it…' Houtarou muttered, and got a chuckle from Satoshi in return.

They reached the floor and Satoshi bid goodbye. As Houtarou entered the second building and into the lone corridor where the Classics Club room was, he was caught slightly in surprise when someone called out his name.

'O-Oreki!'

He turned. Came into his view was a small-statured girl with slightly off-chestnut hair tied into a messy bun. A pair of golden eyes, now cast downwards on the floor, shimmered in the setting sun.

'Mizuki-san?'

Eriko Mizuki. A shy girl in nature, Houtarou had first got to know her during a friendly trip over the summer holidays a month ago. To his knowledge, she had entered class 2-C this year, along with Eru and Mayaka. They had not spoken much, not that the shy girl was particularly fond of speaking in the first place, a trait Houtarou could appreciate in his mind, quite unlike a certain constantly nabbing Mayaka. Houtarou wondered what prompted this encounter. A strange girl, she was, he had thought. And she was behaving very strangely indeed.

'I-I… um… here!' Mizuki started as she directed her gaze further downwards, outstretched hands clutching a single envelope like it was the most important thing in the world.

Houtarou's eyes widened a bit in shock as he studied the little envelope, the hand-drawn yet subtle floral patterns around the rim, and the two words that were written in clearly practiced handwriting: _To Houtarou-kun_.

After a moment of thick uncertain silence, the girl spoke again, this time barely above a whisper, 'This is for you.'

'Oh,' Houtarou said, his mind still in a trance. He might not understand the rosy colors that well, or appreciate how some people could devote their entire energy reserve on it, but he definitely didn't consider himself an inconsiderate person. So he took the envelope with as much care as the girl had demonstrated, and said in as earnest a voice as he could muster, 'Um… thank you.'

He was definitely _not_ used to this. What should he say next?

Eriko, whose confidence seemed to have returned a little by Houtarou's assuring voice, but which was apparently not enough to brush off the furiously red shade that adorned her cheeks, ventured in a small tone, 'Ore- Houtarou-kun, I-I like you.'

Her hands were balled into fists, and her voice almost trailed off at the end, but her courage had somehow seen it through. Then she ran off in the opposite direction.

As the girl made her hasty retreat, Houtarou stood, still dumbfounded. The pale exterior of the envelope seemed to turn transparent in the sun that shone through the 4/F windows, allowing Houtarou a glimpse at the pure white paper concealed underneath.

What had he done to attract such rosy colors? Much less without himself knowing so? In all honesty, he had barely even known the girl that long. What part of his dull gray life could she so immediately be attracted to?

But there was another matter, one that a corner of his rational mind had seized on after he had calmed down a little. His eyes darted once to the hidden note sitting in his pocket. He pulled it out briefly to check the class.

Unknowingly, he let out a contemplative 'hmm', before making his way to the Classics Club Room.

 **A/N:**

 **\- I haven't seen Hyouka in a while. If I made any technical mistakes, like someone suddenly jumping a year, or the name of the school deciding to change on its own, feel free to tell me :)**

 **\- Readers of the fifth book can treat this as an AU, otherwise you can see this as a sequel.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

 **Thank you so much for all the kind words! I'm really flattered even though it was just the prologue. It is probably too soon to tell, but I hope this will stay true to the canon and more importantly be as enjoyable to read as it is for me to write :)**

Chapter 1 (First Arc)

When Houtarou finally reached his destination and slid the door open, Mayaka was already there.

'Oreki,' she said simply by way of greeting.

The room was tidy as usual, small globes and huge atlases packed neatly away when the room functioned as the school's Geography Prep Room during the day, western and Japanese literature standing on the shelves more as decoration than actual reading material.

The same couldn't be said for the room's sole occupant at the moment, with her bag lying open beside her, a few books strewn haphazardly on the desks as she busied herself with work. But what caught Houtarou's attention was Mayaka herself, who had a band-aid taped on her nose and several more applied across her right arm, and the few red scratches that remained unconcealed. It looked like she was having a rough day.

Mayaka probably caught on to his stare, because she narrowed her eyes and lowered her tone in mild annoyance. 'Don't look.'

'Are you all right?' Houtarou asked as he made his way to his usual seat. 'What happened to you? Did you happen to get yourself into a gang fight?'

'Very funny, Oreki,' Mayaka said, and then grunted readily, as if she had been waiting for a chance to vent off her bottled frustration. 'This has got to be the worst day of my life. My alarm clock broke and I was late to school, my breakfast fell on the floor, I left all my homework at home, and then this kid crashed into me on his bike. He ran away without even apologizing, the nerve of him – ' she stopped short and frowned at Houtarou. 'Why am I even talking to you about this? You don't have a drop of compassion in you.'

'Ouch,' Houtarou said, but didn't sound offended at all. 'I can be compassionate. I do feel bad.'

'You could at least sound like you mean it, you know?' Mayaka sighed and gestured at everything in front of her. 'Now I have to redo everything I've already _finished_. Stupid, little…!'

It looked like Houtarou had to be extra careful today not to provoke Mayaka, especially since she was angry. And contrary to what she was saying, Houtarou did feel a bit of concern for his friend, but seeing that she was still her energetic self, he probably had nothing to worry about.

He sat idly for a few minutes, head rested lazily on his hand, taking a moment to savor the quietness of the clubroom and not wanting to disturb Mayaka's frantic race for the deadline. Outside the windows, blowing whistles and the distant yelling of track coaches could be heard as the more athletic students began to train for the day.

For a moment, he considered doing his own homework as they waited for Chitanda to show up, but as soon as he put pen to paper he realized he somehow couldn't concentrate. So he just sat, twirling his pencil as his mind drifted back to mere moments ago. The mysterious note and sudden confession had shifted things out of equilibrium for Houtarou, and questions were starting to pop up uninvited into his mind, nibbling away at his energy reserve. He would much rather leave all these mysteries alone; if only it worked the other way around. He also couldn't very well read the letter with Mayaka sitting right in front of him. But at the very least, he decided he could try to remember what he knew about the girl, and what little he knew indeed.

She was the same age as him, and was studying the Arts subjects. She was shy around people and never talked much. They had first met about a month ago, when Houtarou learned that she was a member of the Cosmic Appreciation Club – it seemed like strange club names were par for the course with the school. It didn't seem to fit the girl either, but Houtarou wasn't one to question other people's tastes. After that, they really didn't have much chance to speak, aside from the occasional greeting when they happened to bump into each other in school.

Other than that, nothing really special came up.

'Ibara,' Houtarou said absentmindedly as he tapped his pencil to the table. 'You're in the same class as Mizuki-san, right?'

'Mizuki? Are you talking about Eriko-chan?' Mayaka said without looking up, and flipped over a page she had just finished writing. 'Mm-hmm. Why?'

'What is she like?'

'What do you mean?'

Houtarou tried to pinpoint exactly what he was trying to ask. But he really just needed information. 'Her person. What are her hobbies, for example?'

The distinct lack of the sound of pen scratching paper and a long pause from Mayaka caused Houtarou to look up, and he immediately regretted asking the question. Mayaka was looking at him with eyes so wide with shock they looked ready to pop out, but there was a definite, devious glint in them that suggested maybe some of the surprise was feigned.

'Oreki… are you asking me about a _girl?_ '

Houtarou looked away, his lips curled up a bit defensively. 'Is it that surprising?'

'Maybe not as much as the sky falling, but yes.' Mayaka was certainly not holding back on her tease. 'I didn't know you were even interested in girls, Oreki. I think you're actually evolving.'

'So noisy…' Houtarou retorted and tried to phrase the whole thing differently. 'And it's not even like that. It's just something I _need_ to know.'

It obviously didn't have Houtarou's intended meaning as Mayaka burst into a fit of laughter. 'Oreki, you should seriously practice talking with other people more, or everyone is going to misunderstand everything you say- ow!'

Mayaka wrinkled her nose where she accidentally pulled on her injury, then said in a less playful tone, 'Well, I guess since you asked, let's see… she's not really much for talking, but she has her own group of friends. She listens to teachers, is never late to class, so she's kind of a model student. And oh, she goes to the library a lot.'

Houtarou knew Mayaka had to know that much, given her continuous status as the school librarian.

'I guess she's just as normal as normal can get,' Mayaka added.

A normal girl, and certainly not one who would pull an elaborate locker trick. The thought had never crossed Houtarou's mind in the first place, definitely not by the way she had been acting, but it never hurt to consider every possibility. But whoever it was, it was someone who knew about Mizuki's actions, and not less foretold it – although Houtarou would never believe that anyone could actually tell the future. So maybe it was someone who Mizuki was acquainted with?

In any case, there was far too little information to reach a definite conclusion. And Houtarou had to guess the perpetrator would hardly stop here. It looked like this mystery would not leave him alone after all, and he just hoped maybe he could resolve this before a certain someone knew about it and made it bigger than it was.

All this thinking seemed to have roused Mayaka's suspicions, as she arched an eyebrow at Houtarou. 'Seriously, why do you ask anyway? It's never a good thing when you start thinking like this. It wouldn't have something to do with Detective Oreki, would it?'

Ever astute, this Ibara. Houtarou was about to brush it off lightly with an excuse, when a gentle knock on the door became his saving grace. He could immediately tell from that polite gesture that Eru Chitanda had arrived.

'Chi-chan!' Mayaka beamed.

As courteous as ever, Eru bowed once upon entering. 'Good evening, Oreki-san, Mayaka-san.' Then she looked around the room. 'Fukube-san isn't here yet?'

Houtarou opened his mouth, but Mayaka beat him to it. 'Oh, Fuku-chan has something to do at the Student Council, so he won't be able to come today.'

It made sense that Mayaka had to know about Satoshi's schedule, now that they were officially a pair. Mayaka had acknowledged her thanks to Houtarou, who had become a Cupid of sorts during earlier Valentine's Day, even though it had not been his initial intention. To Houtarou's dismay, however, her gratitude wasn't enough to lessen any of her usual tease.

'Ah, I see,' Eru nodded as she sat beside Houtarou. 'That's too bad. I was hoping everyone could gather here today.'

'Does it have something to do with our meeting?' Houtarou asked. 'What are we supposed to discuss anyway?'

'Well,' Eru said. 'I was thinking we should start discussing how to organize our club booth.'

'Our what?' Houtarou was confused.

'It's almost time for Club Promotion Day,' Eru explained with a smile. 'We need a strategy! Something that will increase our popularity and help us attract new members!'

Now that memories were stirred, Houtarou seemed to vaguely remember receiving some notice of the sort. Sometime in late September there would be a day reserved for students to promote their clubs. Everyone seemed excited at the prospect of gaining some new blood, and a lot of his classmates were pouring their souls into it, cooking up the most creative ways to attract the unsuspecting freshmen. Maybe it was one of the reasons for all the eccentric naming that was gaining popularity.

There was a certain thread of logic to it. After all, which sounded more appealing? The Cosmic Appreciation Club, or the Astronomy Club? Houtarou would have to be the only one old-schooled enough to opt for the latter.

In all honesty, Houtarou was perfectly content with the way things were now. The four of them had got along just fine in the past year, and he could look forward to that again this year. But he refrained from voicing it, because he knew there was no way Eru would let that pass.

'And when is it again exactly?' Houtarou asked.

Mayaka sighed a bit too dramatically. 'You're hopeless, Oreki. It's scheduled for next Thursday. All afternoon classes have been cancelled in favor of the event. Seriously, you're going to be left in the dust if you keep ignoring things that happen around you.' Houtarou didn't like the smirk she was wearing as she said that.

'Oh yeah, Mayaka-san, has the Manga Club decided what to do at the event?' Eru asked.

'Oh.' Mayaka looked slightly caught off guard by the question. She thought about it for a moment. 'Well, I hear it's pretty much the same as last year. Some of us are going to do how-to-draws on the spot, and I think we're also handing out some of our original works for free.'

'You think?' Houtarou asked. As an actual member of the club, Houtarou thought Mayaka had to be more certain than that.

'Well, they're supposed to finalize everything today, so nothing has been set in stone yet,' Mayaka admitted.

'But doesn't that mean you should be over at the Manga Club right now?!' Eru looked slightly troubled.

Mayaka laughed and waved her hands in assurance. 'It's okay, Chi-chan. We have plenty of people there already. I already told them I would be helping out here, and I'm sure they will understand.'

Eru accepted her excuse readily, and she didn't fail to express her gratitude. But there was something about Mayaka's aversive gaze that told Houtarou there was more than met the eye. He knew that there was a time when Mayaka had not been in the best of terms with her friends at the Manga Club, but the matter had been resolved a long time ago. Had something happened again this time?

Conflicts tended to spark when opinions differed between passionate-yet-stubborn people, Houtarou decided. For a second he was really grateful how well everyone seemed to get along here at the Classics Club.

Meanwhile, Eru had produced a small box of dessert on the table, offering both of them to a treat.

'Wow, is this mochi ice cream? This is so good!' Mayaka commented as she helped herself to a bite.

'I'm glad you like it, Mayaka-san.' Eru smiled. 'Please have as much as you want. We have plenty at home.' She turned toward Houtarou. 'So what do you think, Oreki-san?'

'Huh? Oh, I think they're delicious.'

Eru shook her head. 'No, not that. How do you think we should promote our club?'

Mayaka grinned mischievously from the side with her mouth still filled with rice dessert. 'I bet he would just write _"Please join our club"_ on a blank sign and then slept while watching over the booth.'

'You overestimate me, Ibara. I might even forget to bring that sign.' Houtarou hmphed and turned toward Eru, flinching a little at her expectant eyes. It seemed Eru had got into the habit of waiting for Houtarou to come up with the most brilliant and inspiring solutions for nearly everything they faced.

It was a very bad habit.

'Why are you asking me, Chitanda? You're the club president.'

'But I want to hear everyone's opinions!' Eru said as she inched suddenly toward Houtarou, hands held out to assert her point. Houtarou leaned away.

'Then take Ibara's suggestion. I actually think it sounds very appealing.'

'Please be more serious, Oreki-san!' Eru inched even closer, and poor Houtarou had to grab at the edge of his chair to avoid falling down.

Houtarou sighed. 'What do _you_ think, Chitanda? If there is anything worth promoting, it should be something special to the club, right?'

'Well, we can solve a lot of mysteries!' A sparkle captured in Eru's eyes as she said that. Strange that it was the first thing she mentioned, considering it wasn't something people would normally associate with what their club name was supposed to imply. Houtarou also didn't have to remind her that he was the one who had contributed majority of the work, much against his own will and better judgment.

'We go to hot springs, we pass New Year's together. And we have a lot of fun.' It seemed like Eru wasn't letting go of that train of thought.

'Then that's the first thing we have to decide on. Are we really going to promote ourselves as the Classics Club, or something else entirely?'

Eru retracted back into her seat, finally giving Houtarou some breathing space. She put a curling finger on her lips, deep in thought. 'I guess you're right.'

'Don't listen to him, Chi-chan,' Mayaka said. 'There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing what you like.'

'But I do agree we should be clear about what new members should be expecting. If they join because of the name, then they will be disappointed if they don't get what they want.'

Chitanda was being her usual, considerate self, and her concerns were not ungrounded either.

'Why don't we let the newcomers decide then?' Mayaka conceded. 'We can write out a tentative list of things that we can do, and ask what interests them.'

'That's a great idea, Mayaka-san!' Chitanda looked content. 'Keeping the customer's best interests in mind is the most important rule after all.'

'Haha, that's not exactly what I was thinking of, but I guess you can take it that way.'

Houtarou didn't have any objections to that. Letting someone else decide for you took much less energy than having to do it yourself.

'Okay, it's decided.' Chitanda had her fists held in front of her, determined. 'Mystery-solving is still our main attraction after all.'

'Oi, oi,' Houtarou protested. How did she get to that conclusion?

After that, they talked about how to divide all the work. Chitanda decided she would be in charge of creating the club's promotion poster, and Mayaka volunteered to overlook booth decorations. Houtarou somehow got away with mere mental work, as he would be in charge of thinking up a list of activities any potential club members might be interested in. Once the big direction was decided on, it didn't take much longer for smaller details to get settled.

The rest of the day was spent pretty normally in the clubroom, there was sufficient time for Mayaka to finish everything she had left at home, and Satoshi never showed up to the clubroom after all. Then they said goodbye and went their separate ways.

All in all, Houtarou was pretty satisfied with how everything ended. His workload was light, and more importantly, Eru hadn't come harboring any mystery today. He really didn't want anything to add to the list of things he already needed to solve.

He took out the letter he had kept concealed the entire time. _And it will start with this._


End file.
